By 2025, two-thirds of the global population could face water shortages. Conflicts over water resource management are increasing, with large sums spent on litigation. To ease these challenges, Mammoth Trading launched an online market system to lease water rights. Mammoth grew out of NSF-funded research on the economic and environmental effects of groundwater pumping rights. It provides new risk management tools for farmers, reduces the cost of water reallocation, and leads to an increase in agricultural productivity and profits, while maintaining or improving environmental conditions and resource sustainability. The approach could extend to other natural resources as well.

This NSF Impact is one of thousands of research outcomes made possible by NSF that help fuel the U.S. economy, enhance national security and sustain U.S. global leadership by advancing knowledge. You can search for more NSF Impacts at https://www.nsf.gov/impacts.